2ND LEAD (UPDATE)

Major earthquake in Indian Ocean, tsunami watch cancelled

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 June 2010, 20:23 GMT]
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, which issued a tsunami watch warning following a major earthquake off the Nicobar Islands Sunday at 1:26 a.m. local time at the epicenter, has cancelled the warning later as sea level readings did not indicate any significant tsunami. Tsunami watch was initially announced for India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and for other areas of the Indian ocean following the powerful 7.5 Magnitude earthquake at a relatively shallow depth of about 22 miles in the Nicobar Islands area of the Indian Ocean. Several parts of the island of Sri Lanka experienced a tremor around 1:00 a.m. Buildings and houses in and around Colombo, Negombo, Galle, Matara experienced the tremor that lasted for less than one minute. The Sri Lankan Meteorology Department had also issued a tsunami warning around 2:00 a.m. local time.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the epicentre of the quake was 107 miles (171 km) west of Misha on the Nicobar Islands at a depth of 20.5 miles (33 km).

The earthquake was reported Saturday, June 12, 2010 at 19:26:50 UTC.

Following is the update from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center:

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 003
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 2146Z 12 JUN 2010


THIS BULLETIN IS FOR ALL AREAS OF THE INDIAN OCEAN.


... THE TSUNAMI WATCH IS CANCELLED ...


THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. ONLY NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME - 1927Z 12 JUN 2010
COORDINATES - 7.8 NORTH 92.0 EAST
LOCATION - NICOBAR ISLANDS INDIA REGION
MAGNITUDE - 7.5

EVALUATION

SEA LEVEL READINGS INDICATE THAT A SIGNIFICANT TSUNAMI WAS NOT GENERATED. THEREFORE THE TSUNAMI WATCH ISSUED BY THIS CENTER IS NOW CANCELLED.

THIS WILL BE THE FINAL BULLETIN ISSUED BY THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.

THE JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY MAY ISSUE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR THIS EVENT. IN THE CASE OF CONFLICTING INFORMATION...THE MORE CONSERVATIVE INFORMATION SHOULD BE USED FOR SAFETY. ...SP...